Dangerous
by Randomguest815
Summary: Everything built up, and up, and up, pushing at him until he snapped and left. When he's found again, he's changed; still intelligent, cunning, deceitful, yes, but now he's dangerous. And so are the people coming with him. (Very short prologue, sorry, wasn't going to post yet but the fandom needs some more new stories.)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! Like I said in the description, this is a very short prologue and I apologise for that. I'm hoping to start writing more as soon as possible (although don't be waiting on regular updates, they probably won't come). This is just a set up to the story, which will obviously be focusing on Ryan. I also plan to include Jody as a main character and was looking at potentially including Elektra, because according to wikipedia she's going to be in series five. Can anyone confirm that?**

 **It doesn't apply to this chapter, but in the future there will likely be swearing and violence, which is why this is rated T. If you don't like this then please don't read it and complain.**

 **Disclaimer (and this will be the _only_ one): The dumping ground is owned by the BBC, and not me - I'm 16, I do not have any chance of owning even the tiniest part of this show.**

* * *

It hadn't been that hard of a decision, really. It had been lurking in the recesses of his mind for years now, and once Chloe chose _them_ over him, ideas leapt unbidden to his head. Ideas of gangs, of rough families that would accept him for who – no, what – he was: bad. A group of people who would embrace the rebellious streak that he had harboured for so many years, value his cunning and skills.

Ryan was going to join a street gang.

A plan was still forming as he reached for a rucksack, slinging in any items of clothing within his reach. All the money in his room, totalling £134, was hidden in a small compartment at the back of the bag underneath a thin blanket. He checked the time, 10:45, on his small clock before chucking that in the bag too. Throwing on a jumper, he snuck to the bathroom to grab the toiletries he thought he may need, before creeping down to the kitchen. It was late, later than curfew, but Carmen and Tee had been doing _something_ this evening that meant Mike would be out with them until about 11:30. May-Li was sorting out some catastrophe that had happened with one of the girls, and would be preoccupied for at least a little while, meaning that if he was quick, he would be safe.

Reaching the kitchen, he opened the cupboards and dumped as much food as possible into his bag. Of course, he wasn't new to any of this, and knew to grab the non-perishables with at least a little bit of nutritious content – cereals, tinned fruit and veg, the lot. Having grabbed a sufficient amount, he moved onto the office. Gently opening the door, grateful it was unlocked, he crept to the filing cabinet and reached for the pot of keys situated on top of it.

He rifled through for the specific set of keys he wanted and opened the locked draw at the bottom. Inside it was a little tin, again locked, but which he also had the keys to. Inside of this box was the clothing allowance for each resident of the house for the next month. £5 each for the younger residents, £10 for the older ones. Not really enough to buy clothes, but when added together, a significant amount - £120. Together with his own money, he now had £254.

Decent.

Grabbing the main house keys, he slunk out of the office towards the front door. Pausing to slip on his coat, he unlocked the door as quietly as he could and stepped out, relocking it and slipping the key through the gap at the bottom. He spotted his skateboard to the left of the door and picked it up out of sentimentality.

He took a step back, glancing up at his old house and experiencing nerve-wracking second thoughts. This place had been his home for a while now. Pretty much everyone who had had a positive impact on his life was inside that building. Could he really leave it all behind?

But then he remembered the negatives: the rumours spread by Tee, the distrust Mike had in his eyes whenever they spoke, the hateful words emanating from Chloe's mouth – and suddenly the good memories couldn't make up for it. He had felt so much sadness in that house, and it was time for him to get away. He didn't know where he was going, or how he was going to find anyone to take him in, but he just _knew_ that he had to get away.

With a final glance at the window of his old bedroom, he set the skateboard to the ground and pushed off. First, he'd head into Newcastle city for the night – an achievable target. Then he'd get away – Manchester, or London, maybe. Perhaps Liverpool, get back to his home town.

It didn't matter though. Anywhere was better than here.

Anywhere.

* * *

 **Well, there's your first (tiny) chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! I know you're probably getting sick of reading this, but _please_ comment - leave your opinion or a suggestion for what you want to happen next, anything. Just so I know how people feel about it.**

 **Hopefully I'll post again in the not too distant future, so see you then!**

 **Randomguest xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

**Aaaaaaaaaay looks who's back! (I'm sorry this took so long, I was involved in the local panto so I have had NO TIME because of rehearsals and performances and school catch up and ugh). I've been watching the new series and very much enjoying it and it got me back onto this fic. Quick note on the new series - I know that a lot of us on here are Ryan fans, so are you guys hoping that they actually do something with the 'no one likes Ryan' storyline this season? Because I feel like it's getting a bit old...**

 **Also, I have resurrected my tumblr account (same name on there as on here) so if you have tumblr please advise me on how to go about using it and also go and follow me :)**

 **Anyway, I don't own it, and I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

Jody shimmied into her denim jacket. It was now slightly too small for her, but hey. Who has money for new clothes? Certainly not the kids at Ashdene Ridge. She looked in the mirror once more, going through a mental checklist. Clothes look presentable? Check. Eye-liner looks decent? Check. Hair isn't messy? Check. She smiled, happy with the outcome of twenty minutes in her bedroom.

"Jody? We've got to get going. The train won't wait for us!"

"Coming! No need to get so worried!" Jody called, grabbing her purse and running down the stairs. May-Li and the twins were already in their coats, waiting by the door.

"Right, come on." May-Li said, clapping her hands together. "Coat on and into the car. Your bags are already in there, it's just us to follow now." She and the twins left, Billie and Toni running around excitedly as May-Li tried to calm them down.

Chloe appeared just as Jody was doing up her zip. "You're off, then?"

"Yeah, the others are all in the car." Jody replied, searching for her gloves in her pockets. "You sure you don't want to come?" She added as an afterthought.

Chloe sighed. "No. Liverpool was Ryan's home, not mine. And I just-" She glanced down at her lap. "I'm not sure if I can face it. Not yet."

Jody nodded, taking a deep breath. "Of course." She finally gave up her search and grabbed the gloves out of Tyler's coat. Turning to leave, she paused. "You know, I'm sure he's doing fine, wherever he is. Ryan's a fighter."

Chloe kept her gaze fixed downwards. "You can only fight so hard. It's been too long – we should have heard something by now." And with that she left, wheeling herself towards the kitchen.

Jody nodded and shuffled through the door, her excitement replaced with the ever-present sorrow. She felt Ryan's disappearance just as hard as everyone else, maybe harder than some. Yes, she and Ryan had argued, and yes, she felt that he was an arrogant arse, but she had never hated him. And, while Ryan wasn't one of _her_ closest friends, she was pretty sure that she was one of _his_ , making her feel all the more guilty that he had left.

Opening the car door, she berated herself. Today should be happy! May-Li was off to Liverpool to visit PoPo, and had invited Jody to come along. The twins had begged to be allowed to go as they had never been anywhere near Merseyside, completing the merry gathering in the car. Obviously the others had been invited, but no one was as keen on going – it was getting towards the depths of winter and not that many residents of Ashdene Ridge were fond of walking around unfamiliar cities in sub-zero temperatures.

"Glad you could join us." May-Li said, eyebrow raised. She tapped her watch as if to say 'if we're late it's your fault', before flashing Jody a smile that meant she wasn't actually angry. Jody smiled back, her joyous mood instantly returning. "Right. Seat-belts on!" May-Li reminded the girls, turning the keys in the ignition and gripping the steering wheel.

"Liverpool, here we come."

* * *

The train journey was less than pleasant, to say the least. At first it had been exciting, a new experience for the twins and one that Jody hadn't had in a long time.

However, the novelty soon wore off.

There was a family of four on the table opposite theirs – a very loud, very obnoxious, family of four. The language they used wasn't conducive to a comfortable atmosphere when at a table with two primary-school aged children, and it wasn't long before the mother and the teenage daughter started discussing a very private topic that was most inappropriate when on public transport. May-Li had given the twins a set of headphones and sent Jody off to look for a new table - however, this being a national rail train, there was none to be found. The majority of the journey was spent making awkward small talk to drown out the unbecoming conversation.

As the train entered Merseyside, a small smile graced May-Li's lips.

"I've missed this place. I haven't been back for years."

"Why not?"

"I wasn't really welcome for most of it – Popo lives here and she was never happy about my family." May-Li glanced at the teenager next to her. "You changed that, Jodes. I've never been happier than that day."

Jody giggled and shifted her gaze to her lap. "Yeah, well. People with loving families should realise how lucky they are." May-Li nodded, and a comfortable silence ensued.

The merry scouser on the radio announced the next station, causing Jody to giggle. "How long until your accent reverts to that?" She chuckled, nudging the care worker.

"Not long. Don't know why you're giggling, though. Scouse is a lovely accent." May-Li winked.

"If you say so." Jody looked at her hands. "You know, I always wondered why Ryan had such a strong accent – I mean, his sister's Scottish. That's weird, right?"

May-Li shrugged. "Not really. Ryan was taken into care when he was five, straight to Liverpool. Chloe and her mum moved up to Scotland. Your accents don't really solidify until you're eight or nine, so they both managed to develop them afterwards."

Jody hummed in acknowledgement. "Still. Unexpected, anyway."

"Everything was unexpected with Ryan, Jodes."

"Why are we talking about Ryan?" Billie asked, her headphone on the table. "I want to have fun today, don't ruin it."

"Don't be rude." May-Li admonished. "You may not have liked him, but he's still a person."

"Who says we didn't like him?" Toni asked, jumping to her sister's defence. "It's just not fun talking about dead people."

"He's not dead!" Jody cried, nagging feelings of guilt and responsibility starting to eat away at her. "Just – not here anymore."

"Alright, girls. Let's calm down, okay?"

The rest of the journey was silent.

* * *

It wasn't long after their walk through Liverpool town centre had started that Billie and Toni started complaining.

"I'm hungry."

"I need the loo."

"This is boring."

"Is there a loo anywhere?"

"How long until we see Popo?"

"May-Li!"

"Why does Jody get to choose where we go?"

"I need the toilet!"

May-Li rolled her eyes, finally giving in. "Okay, Billie! We'll find a public toilet." She looked around, not wanting to drag Jody away from the music shop she had found. "Jody, you've got your phone with you, yeah? Fully charged?" Jody nodded. "Right, you and Toni stay here, I'm taking Billie back to the loo we passed. Meet us outside the shop, yeah?" She took Billie's hand and led her away, sending an apologetic glance back at the teenager.

Jody chuckled, turning back to the CDs she was looking at. She wasn't going to buy any – she had got a couple two weeks ago, and she didn't have enough money to buy every album she wanted. She was mainly window shopping, laughing at what genre the music shop had put certain bands into. Toni trailed her, fingers brushing over the CDs.

"Whoa – those guys look awesome!" Toni cried, grabbing one. She held it up to Jody. "Look at their masks!"

Jody nearly broke into laughter, sweeping the CD out of Toni's little fingers. "No, nope. Hollywood Undead is not a band for a primary schooler. Wait, like, five years, then you can listen to them."

"Why?"

Jody chose not to answer, instead leaving the store and expecting Toni to follow. Standing by the door, she looked at her watch. "How long are they going to be?"

"It's only been, like-"

"Rhetorical, Toni. Use of the rhetoric."

Toni stilled, looking down. Jody laughed and patted her shoulder, pretty sure that the younger girl was simply trying to figure out the meaning of 'rhetoric'. Getting bored, Jody leant out into the street, trying to spot May-Li. A body slammed into her back, pushing her into Toni. She turned around, ready to give the offending attacker a piece of her mind, only to stop short.

"Ryan?"

He was wearing a black jumper, the hood pulled up over his head. His brown hair had grown longer and had been messily sheared just above his eyes, one of which was heavily bruised and swollen. His hands were covered by ripped gloves, and his jeans had patches missing. His knees were heavily bruised, one of them sporting a nasty cut. There was dried blood on other areas of his jeans too – a startling amount of it. His shoes were worn and clearly not supporting his feet all that much. However, what shocked Jody the most was the expression displayed across Ryan's features – fear, despair, and anger all mixing together to form what seemed to be a strange sense of adrenaline-fuelled excitement.

The boy's eyes widened in recognition, but this was soon replaced by fear as he glanced over Jody's shoulder. He whimpered and dashed down an alley by the shop, stumbling but regaining his feet. Not fast enough to grab his arm, Jody turned to see what it was he was running from – and blanched. Twenty feet away was a group of about four angry teens, slightly older than Jody and Ryan, all sporting hoodies and all looking _extremely_ pissed. They passed Jody and Toni, ducking down the alley – running at a much faster pace than Ryan had been.

"Shit, I- dammit, Ryan!" Jody breathed, terrified. She turned to Toni. "Stay here, whatever you do. Wait for May-Li and tell her that I just saw Ryan and went after him. Tell her to stay here until I phone, okay?" And with that she left, running madly down the alley in the hopes of catching up with her old housemate.

As she reached the end of the alley, she blanched. She didn't know Liverpool at all, and she was chasing an angry gang through its backstreets – a recipe for disaster in anyone's books. But as soon as she glanced the teens she was running again, unwilling to let Ryan get hurt; well, too badly hurt at least. She still harboured a fair amount of resentment towards him, as did all the residents of Ashdene Ridge.

She followed the gang through a maze of alleys until they – and their unlucky prey – came to a halt. Jody was about to run in to help Ryan, but stopped as one of the gang members pulled out a short kitchen knife. Fear coursed through her veins and, to her shame, she froze. In a moment of pure terror, she became aware of the most bizarre sound she had ever heard: Ryan Reeves pleading.

"Come on, guys, it wasn't just me! I'm just doing a job – no hard feelings, yeah?"

"You cost me a lot of money, Reeves." The gang member with the knife growled, grabbing him by the hem of his shirt. He slammed Ryan back against the wall, the knife going up to his collar bones.

"I didn't want to – Dylan made me! Come on, I had no choice!"

One of the other gang members laughed cruelly. "Oh, we know that Dylan made you. He always does, right?" He stepped forward and punched Ryan's jaw, eliciting a whimper from the younger teen. "But what better way to give Dylan a message than sending his fuckboy back a little roughed up?"

He raised his fist again, and suddenly Jody couldn't take it anymore. Ashamed, she turned away and sat down with her back against the wall, resolutely facing away from the alley that her former housemate – no, former friend – was suffering in. As Ryan's moans and cries of pain reached her ears, a tear slid from between her closed eyes.

She had never felt so low in her life.

* * *

Ryan rolled over, glad that his tormentors had finally left him alone. When the knife had come out, he had feared for his life, but it turned out that murdering a defenceless teen was too low even for Hartley and his goons. With one hand to his bleeding nose, he pushed himself into a sitting position, leaning against the wall. Taking a deep breath, he extended his legs out in front of him, gasping as it pulled at the new cuts and bruises decorating his limbs.

Making a mental inventory of all his injuries, Ryan highlighted the ones that he needed to tend to first: His nose was probably broken, which he needed to sort, his one black eye had become two, he had a potentially dangerous cut on his thigh – he wasn't going to bleed out but it could easily become infected – his left leg had gone dead, and he was pretty sure that his left forearm was fractured, along with two probably broken fingers on the same hand. Hartley's thugs didn't go easy this time – they were obviously playing for keeps.

Ryan sighed, tears threatening to spill onto his cheeks. He had taken more than his fair share of beatings before, but none as bad as this. He worried that this would be the one to finally land him in hospital – and then back in care. They wouldn't send him to a cushy home like Ashdene Ridge, either; this time, he'd be straight into secure. He grit his teeth – he had done all of this to escape a couple of judgemental care kids and now he was going to end up in a home for practically criminal youngsters. He should have just stayed where he was.

Ryan shut his eyes in frustration before taking a deep breath and attempting to push himself to a standing position. With a cry of agony he fell right back down, pain shooting through his left arm and leg. His right leg was still completely numb. The tears did fall this time.

An angry yell burst through his lips as he basked in the unfairness of it all. He went to reach for the phone in his pocket, hoping it wasn't too smashed up, with the intention of calling Dylan. Of course Hartley hadn't tried to steal or break it; the plan was to scare Dylan, and they'd need proof to do that. Despite knowing that by phoning Dylan, Ryan was doing exactly what they wanted, he pulled up Dylan's contact and was about to ring him when-

"Ryan!"

A glance at the girl running towards him confirmed what Ryan already suspected – Jody was in Liverpool and had found him. How, he had no idea; knowing Jody, it was probably pure coincidence. He couldn't decide whether or not he was happy about her locating him.

"Oh my gosh, Ryan!" She ran to his side and knelt down, her hands hovering over his legs, unsure what to do. "I- What the hell? Are you okay? Who were those boys?" She asked, adrenaline and panic speeding up the rate of her voice.

"I'm fine." Ryan said, moving to push her away. The whimper that escaped his lips as he attempted to move gave him away.

"Um – right. We need to get you to a hospital. I need to tell May-Li!" She reached into her pocket and brought out her phone, first dialling May-Li's number.

With a grunt of pain, Ryan reached out and grabbed her phone, pulling it away from her and ending the call. "No way. You are not calling anyone. I'll be fine." To prove his point, he forced himself into a standing position. He ignored the pain flaring in his left side and lent on the wall to help him along, dragging his right leg behind him. Man, Dylan's friends would have a field day with this.

"Ryan, please, I-"

"No, Jody. I'm fine." And with that he collapsed.

Jody ran forward, her breath catching in her throat. Ryan was still conscious, but there were tears seeping out of his eyes and his mouth was resolutely shut. "Ryan, please. You're really hurt. I just want to get you some help." With a sob, Ryan nodded, and Jody phoned May-Li. She told her where they were, and that Ryan was hurt. She asked her to hurry, and told her that she was scared. She started to tell May-Li how Ryan got hurt, but at the boy's shake of his head, she stopped and just told May-Li to hurry up. And with that, May-Li hung up, leaving Jody alone with a silent Ryan.

Jody shifted so that she was leaning against the wall. Ryan was still in the position that he fell in; Jody had tried to move him, but at his cry of pain, she had stopped, not wanting to hurt him anymore. The two fell into a highly uncomfortable silence that lasted for about ten seconds before Jody decided to fill it with chatter.

"I can't believe I ran into you! Well, you ran into me. Amazing, right?" She looked down to see if he would respond; he didn't. "We've all been so worried about you. Rightfully so, it would seem. What the hell have you been doing for the past year?" Again, no response. Then again, this was Ryan – even before all of this he had been hard to get a straight answer from. "Chloe's going to be so happy when you get home, she's missed you so much." This elicited a response, as Ryan's head ducked closer to his body and his shoulders started shaking at a much faster rate.

Jody tensed. "You do know she missed you, right? You're her big brother." No answer, but every now and then Jody heard a muffled sob. Strange.

It was only a couple of minutes before May-Li's voice could be heard coming through the maze of backstreets. Jody stood up and ran to the end of the alley, calling out for the care worker.

"Over here!" As May-Li and the twins made to go inside the alley, Jody grabbed Billie and Toni's hands. "I don't think you two should go in. Stay out here, okay?" They nodded silently, and May-Li sent Jody a worried glance. "He's in there." Was Jody's reply, her grip on the twins tightening.

May-Li entered the alley, worried about what she would find. Ryan was a handful but he was still only a teenager, and Jody had seemed very panicked when she made her phone call. When she spotted Ryan laying prone on the floor, May-Li understood why. "Ryan! I'm here, it's okay. Where are you hurt?"

The boy's head shot up, fear clouding his eyes as the care worker approached him. "Get away from me! Get away!" He tried to push himself back but pain flashed across his face and he stopped – very much worrying May-Li.

"Ryan, I just want to help. It's me, May-Li. Everything's going to be okay, I promise. Just let me look at you." Ryan continued to attempt to back away, agony evident on his features. "Jody?" May-Li called. "Call an ambulance. Then call Mike." She turned back to Ryan, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. At the movement he tensed, struggled to fling himself away, and then passed out. "Jody? That ambulance better be coming soon!" May-Li called again, terrified for the wellbeing of her young charge.

"I don't know where we are!" Jody yelled, tears evident in her voice.

"It doesn't matter – tell them as much as you know and they'll be able to figure it out." She turned back to the teenager in front of her. Deciding to cut her loses, she reached under his unconscious form and proceeded to pick him up, worriedly realising how light he was. "Twins? I need you to be brave. I'm bringing Ryan out. He's asleep and he's quite hurt but I need to look after him, okay?" As the two shouted back that they would be okay, May-Li slowly carried Ryan towards the others, careful not to jostle him too much.

Looking down at his unconscious face, May-Li sighed. She had seen Ryan sleep before, and it had always changed him, made him look younger and more innocent. The anger and bitterness melted away, leaving him calm and peaceful. Not anymore; not only did his injuries mar his features, there was a fear present even when he was unconscious, and his year away from Ashdene Ridge seemed to have aged him massively.

May-Li told Jody and the twins to take off their coats and lay them on the ground so she could put Ryan down. They did so, and May-Li lay him down with his head in her lap. The twins looked shocked and scared as they sat down next to Ryan, and as soon as Jody had finished talking to the operator, she sat behind them and engulfed them in her arms. Billie immediately started crying, and Toni soon followed.

As she waited for the ambulance, the broken body of a teen she had cared for lying in her arms, May-Li wondered just how things could have gone so wrong.

* * *

 **Right, so there's the first actual chapter of _Dangerous_! Hope you guys enjoyed it! Please review, it really does mean the world. Also, I have planned everything out; I have basic ideas but not fleshed out, so if you want to suggest anything, either comment or PM me and I'll see what I can do!**

 **I'm going on a ski trip tomorrow so I won't be updating (not that you'd expect an update from me _anyway_ ) but I'll do my best to get this going :)**

 **So, to summarise, hope you enjoyed, no update for a while, please review and no flames!**

 **Thanks,**

 **Randomguest xxx**


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